Sachin Tendulkar fans criticise Maria Sharapova for her ignorance about the cricket icon

Cricket isn’t a global sportThe controversy over tennis player Maria Sharapova’s admission that she did not know who Sachin Tendulkar was is in poor taste. That Sachin fans chose to abuse Sharapova on her official social media account, for her ignorance about the cricket icon, is deplorable. Despite the fact Sachin enjoys cult status in India and within the cricketing fraternity, Sharapova may not know who the legendary batsman is. Born in Russia and currently living in the US — two countries where cricket has very little appeal — it’s reasonable to assume that Sharapova has never heard about Sachin’s exploits on the cricket pitch.

The criticism that Sharapova’s ignorance is a mark of elitism is highly unfair. Had she stated she did not know who tennis players Leander Paes and Sania Mirza were, there would have been reason to be concerned. But a sportsperson isn’t expected to know everything about every sport in the world. In fact, there’s a good chance that Novak Djokovic or Rafael Nadal haven’t heard of Sachin either. They are athletes, not sport historians. Besides, only a handful of countries play or follow cricket. Unlike football or tennis, the International Cricket Council only has 10 full-member nations and associations. That hardly makes cricket a global sport.

In such a scenario, it’s safe to assume that large parts of the world are unfami-liar with cricket and its icons. Sharapova’s ignorance about Sachin is as bad as an average Indian cricket fan’s ignorance about golf. How many Indians have heard about ice hockey hall-of-fame inductee Brian Leetch or figure skating champion Michelle Kwan? The tirade against Sharapova is a severe overreaction by overzealous Sachin fans. In fact, Sachin should speak out against the malicious campaign against the tennis player.

COUNTERVIEW

Sharapova’s ignorance is inexcusableBy Suchit Verma

Considering the fact that cricket has become a truly global sport now, it is surprising that tennis star Maria Shara-pova is ignorant about Indian cricket’s living legend Sachin Tendulkar. The batting maestro’s fans rightly feel outraged by Sharapova’s ignorance. Even US President Barack Obama said, in jest, that when Sachin batted his country’s production level plummeted. Sachin is no stranger to Wimbledon’s stands but Sharapova’s lack of knowledge reveals a western mindset that disregards sports in which non-white or less-developed parts of the world excel.

By the time Sharapova was ranked No. 1 in 2005, Sachin had attained demigod-like status across all cricket-playing nations. When Sachin made his debut, Pete Sampras was yet to win a grand slam, Roger Federer’s name was unheard of, Diego Maradona was captain of the Argentine soccer team, Michael Schumacher had not raced the F1, Usain Bolt was a kid in Jamaica, Lionel Messi and Sharapova were toddlers and Russia, where she was born in 1987, was still a part of the USSR. Sachin, along with Eng-lish footballer David Beckham and Federer, who has described the recently retired cricket prince as one of the “greatest sportspersons ever”, belongs to an international sporting royalty to which Sharapova too can lay claim to.

It might have escaped Sharapova’s notice last month when Britain’s premium luxury goods brand, East India Company, issued an exclusive legal tender gold coin worth £12,000 in honour of Sachin’s extraordinary career. At a time of greater sports globalisation, Sharapova’s ignorance reveals a mind too insular to acknowledge achievements of sporting giants across the world. It is not for nothing that on one social networking site Sachin’s official page has drawn 20.1 million likes whereas Sharapova’s has attracted just 13.6 million, of which a great majority may be drawn by her sex appeal rather than sporting qualities.